Multiple Choice Questions

1. One of the researchers who rode in the needle exchange vans in Baltimore to interview super-exchangers was an epidemiologist by what name?(a) Tom Valente. (b) Chad Farmer. (c) Todd Kessler. (d) Tom Junge.

2. The author states in Chapter 5 that a person's brain only remembers about how many types of a particular item?(a) 9 or 10. (b) 6 or 7. (c) 4 or 5. (d) 3 or 4.

3. When was the new hybrid corn seed introduced to Green County, Iowa, according to the author in Chapter 6?(a) 1928. (b) 1911. (c) 1962. (d) 1978.

4. Where did Bernie Goetz earn a bachelor’s degree?(a) The University of Texas. (b) New York University. (c) California State University. (d) Harvard University.

5. Mark Alpert is a professor at what university?(a) The University of Alabama. (b) Harvard University. (c) Yale University. (d) The University of Texas.

Short Answer Questions

1. The stickiness of cigarettes is innate in what, according to the author?

2. How many young men closed in on Bernie Goetz in an attempt to mug him on the subway?

3. Philip Zimbardo is a social scientist at what university?

4. In Chapter 6, Gladwell tells the story of a Chinese professor working for an American university who asked about a mountain where?

5. According to the author in Chapter 5, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was from the beginning what publishers refer to as what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe the importance of groups in Chapter 5?

2. According to the author, a teenager who begins smoking will not develop an addiction threshold for up to three years. Given this, how does Gladwell propose prevention of regular smokers?

3. What have researchers discovered regarding news coverage on suicide?

4. What, according to the author, gives teens “psychological permission” to smoke?

5. How does the author describe the obstacle in anti-smoking campaigns with teens?

6. What example does the author give from The Psychology of Rumor in Chapter 6?

7. Who took over as director of the New York City Subway during the 1980s? What was first on his agenda?

8. How does the author describe the work of Robin Dunbar in Chapter 5?

9. How does the author describe the publication of Rebecca Wells's novel Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood in Chapter 5?

10. What company does the author describe in the beginning of Chapter 6?